Man Shot 45 Times by Best Friend Lived Through First 32 Shots
JEFFERSON, N.C. — Prosecutors say a man shot by his best friend 45 times lived through the first 32 shots.
They highlighted the findings of pathologists at Freddie McDowell Jr.’s murder trial Thursday after defense testimony claimed the 24-year-old man suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, The Winston-Salem Journal reported.
Authorities say McDowell killed 19-year-old Drew Howell at a mountain home in Wilkes County, N.C., in June 2006.
McDowell’s attorney says he acted in self-defense and was abused as a child.
But prosecutors showed photos of Howell, who was shot in the eyes, groin and chest with a .38-caliber revolver, and pointed out that McDowell cleaned the cabin before police arrived.
Prosecutors are expected to give their closing arguments Friday.
Full Story Here:
Prosecutors: Man Shot 45 Times by Best Friend Lived Through First 32 Shots
OK, this is a much over-used phrase these days but, let’s DO the math!
A .38 revolver carries, at most, 6 rounds. IF the gun was fully loaded when this thing started, and he emptied it into the victim, that’s 6 rounds. Then he had to fully reload at least 6 more times to have fired 36 more rounds. 6 shots x 6 reloads is 36 + 6 more additional rounds = 42. Then he had to reload at least a partial load of 3 more rounds to make a total of 45 rounds into the victim. That’s not taking into consideration ANY misses that may have occurred.
McDowell’s attorney says he acted in self-defense and was abused as a child.
I don’t know about you, but I think I would have gone for an *insanity* plea. If there is anyone on that jury that can do basic math, they too will figure this out. And here’s the trick, a grand jury, in *most* places, looks at it this way, IF you have a revolver in hand and you took time to cock it, as opposed to just pulling the trigger, you took time to think, and that equates to premeditation.
If Freddie McDowell Jr. took time to reload as many times as was necessary to place 45 rounds into Drew Howell’s body, I would have to say he took a lot of time to think about his actions and their repercussions! Somehow I just don’t believe that a difficult childhood, or having been abused as a child would be the defense I would want to try.
The people that scream about *no guns* will have a field day with this one. They are wrong of course, this is a case of seriously premeditated murder or a total loss of sanity. An assault weapon doesn’t put out that many rounds without reloading. This was a deliberate action committed by a person with a very sick mind. It just so happens that a gun was used as his tool to commit murder. Had it not been a gun, it would have been a knife, an axe, a ball bat, any number of items! The GUN did not do this, the MAN did it!
One other thing that I personally found strange about this story was, these guys were *best friends*. With friends like McDowell, Howell didn’t need ANY enemies!
Maybe the shooter had a lot of those quick load things you use with wheel guns.
Personally I don’t like .38′s. Get a big gun like a 45, 44, or best of all a 50 and save the ammo.
Well..?
That guy oh so obviously does not read my blog! Front Sight Training Center will give you a good weapon, and or train you for free!
Seriously though. That many shots leads me to believe that even the “PTSD” is no excuse.
When I was growing up you couldn’t shoot inside the city limits other than at the Oceanside Gun Club, or at the trap range that had been set up between the harbor and Camp Del Mar. There was however one exception, and in fact, the stated that if you were armned, you had to shoot mad dogs, skunks, and porcupines. Hydrophobia was no excuse for allowing them to live. I see little difference between PTSD and rabies when it comes to things like this…
* add “The law” *stated”
Even with this XD, it has to be a VERY deliberate effort to shoot someone 45 times…
I’d HATE to see the mess that 45 rounds of 230gr .45 HP’s would make too…
And I don’t think he’d have lived thru the first 32 rounds either…
Please forgive my callousness, but my Dad taught me very well. If couldn’t hit and kill what ever I was shooting at with the first shot, I was an $%#&*.
If I could finish the job with a second shot, I was no son of his.
One time he chewed me out for using a 20 gage to kill a Rattlesnake that was climbing - I didn’t want to miss
Dad said I should have killed it with one shot from my 22 and kept the venom from being spread all over - besides he rightly pointed out we didn’t have a nice skin for the hat band and I wasted the “meat.” Although I never liked rattlesnake and several of the things we had to eat sometimes. Mandatory rule, if you kill it, you clean it and it will be part of a meal.
Don’t laugh - he trained me well. When I went to Air Force basic training (in TexasFred land) and went to the firing range to qualify with the M-16, after we fired our 5 practice rounds, the Range TI stopped everyone and came over and kicked my boot, and asked where did you learn to shoot. I said I grew up with a gun in my hand. He had me look through his range telescope. I had placed all my shots closely together dead center. He smiled and told me to return to my shooting position. That day I qualified as expert - no problem. If I had been in the Army, I probably would have been a shooter but in the Air force, I was on the was to supply school.
While attending OTS (again in TexasFred land ), I qualified as expert with a pistol with first time - no problem.
In the story, the shooter was obviously both very pissed off and crazy. If the shooter was a friend of the victim, he would have put a bullet to the head. A sadistic bastard would shoot a person several places before killing the person. Let me assure you, if anyone raped or brutally murdered one of the ladies (which includes my granddaughters), I would opt for a few wasted bullets in appropriate places. Maybe they should investigate for a real the motive in this situation besides craziness or PTSD. Also, PTSD does NOT account for this situation. PTSD may lead one to depression, flashbacks, and potential to some dissociative disorder that might lead to violence - but if this young man had been in combat, he would know how to finish the job a whole lot sooner than 45 shots. PTSD - don’t thinks so. Hatred & rage - maybe? Cause — not reported.
Ozark Guru
Clearly, the shooter’s intent wasn’t not to immediately kill his ‘best friend’ but to torture him.
That is one sick bastard. The thing is, if a gun wasn’t available, he would have done the same thing using some other mechanism like a machete. See Larry Singleton for another example.
Larry Singleton= http://www.timelinesdb.com/listevents.php?subjid=468&title=Mayhem
Sorry, previous link was wrong. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/01/01/MN225792.DTL
@Gawfer
Jeeeeeeez….letting such a POS continue to breath does not makes us a civilized people. He should have had his arms chopped off and left to die in a ditch!
I am sickened by these jerks who use the “excuse” I was abused as a child. I have known dozens of men and women who were abused as children and went through trauma that today the shrinks would say is horrendous. And these men and women NEVER killed another person. They have led and are leading good, productive lives. This “excuse” has got to go the way of the dodo bird and dinosaur.
Great post Pop, this was too funny.